Device for hanging a garment with a neck, of the coat hanger type

ABSTRACT

A device for hanging a collared garment, includes a support to be inserted into and hold the garment, on either side of the collar, and a hook secured to the support. The support has a body which ends in two folding ends, the device having an element for retracting the hook into the body, and an element for extending the folding ends such as to extend the body when a pulling force is applied to the hook, in order for the device to change from a first, more compact planar position, in which the folding ends are folded against the body and the hook is in the retracted position, to a second position in which the hook and the folding ends are extended, allowing the garment to be hung when a pulling force is applied to the hook of the device previously arranged in the garment.

The invention concerns a device for hanging a garment with a neck, ofthe coat hanger type, comprising a support intended to be fitted in saidgarment in order to support it, on either side of said neck, and a hooksecured to said support.

According to the invention, the support has a body and two foldableends, said body terminating in said two foldable ends, the device havingmeans for retracting the hook in the body of the support, as well asmeans for deploying said foldable ends in line when a traction force isexerted on the hook so that the device can pass from a first positionflat, of less space requirement, in which said foldable ends are intheir position folded against the body of the support and said hook isin its retracted position, to a second position in which the hook andsaid foldable ends are deployed, enabling the garment to be suspendedwhen a traction force is exerted on the hook of the device prearrangedin the garment.

The invention also concerns a garment with a neck, folded, with thesleeves folded over the body of the garment, and including a deviceaccording to the invention prearranged at the neck.

The invention concerns a device for hanging a garment with a neck, ofthe coat hanger type. The invention also concerns a folded garment witha neck, with the sleeves folded over the body of the garment, in which adevice according to the invention is prearranged.

Garment with a neck means in particular a shirt, T-shirt, undergarment,lingerie or any other over- or underclothing having a neck for the headto pass through.

Very often, coat hangers made from plastics material, wood or metal arein the form of a triangular support equipped with a hook. In shops, anot insignificant time is spent by salespersons when garments, such asfor example T-shirts, delivered folded, must be hung from the rails. Itis thus necessary to unfold the garment and then to fit the triangularsupport of the coat hanger through the neck before hanging the garmenton the attachment bars of the rails.

So that the salespersons do not waste time hanging the garments,“upstream hanging” is also known in the ready-to-wear field. Thegarments are delivered to the shops already hanging from supports bymeans of coat hangers. This technique does however have the majordrawback of increasing the volume of goods during transport thereof,since the garments cannot be folded in a position of less space.

Cardboard coat hangers are moreover known from the prior art, inparticular from the documents US-1.760.352, WO-98/53725 or DE 93 18 755.The document WO-98/53725 discloses such a cardboard coat hanger that canbe folded when not used.

There is also known from the document US-4.227.632 a coat hanger,essentially plastic, wherein the body of the coat hanger is articulatedin order to facilitate insertion or withdrawal thereof through the neckof a garment, without damaging the neck of the garment.

The aim of the invention is to overcome the aforementioned drawback byproposing a device, of the coat hanger type, making it possible toquickly suspend garments delivered in folded form.

More particularly, the aim of the present invention is to propose ahanging device that makes it possible to obtain the same advantages asthe so-called upstream hanging technique, without the drawbacks.

Another aim of the invention is to propose such a coat hanger with a lowmanufacturing cost.

Another aim of the invention is to propose a method of packaging agarment with a neck by means of a device according to the invention.

The invention thus concerns a device for hanging a garment with a neck,of the coat hanger type, comprising a support intended to be fitted inthe garment in order to support it, on either side of said neck, and ahook integral with said support, characterised in that the support has abody and two foldable ends, said body terminating in said two foldableends, said device having means for retracting the hook at the body ofthe support, as well as means for deploying said foldable ends in linewith the body, when a traction force is exerted on the hook, so thatsaid device can pass from a first position flat, with the least spacerequirement, in which said foldable ends are in their position folded atthe body of the support and said hook is in its retracted position,intended to prearrange, at the neck, the device in the garment, folded,with sleeves folded over, to a second position, in which the hook andsaid foldable ends are deployed, making it possible to suspend thegarment, when a traction force is exerted on the hook of said deviceprearranged in the garment.

According to optional features:

-   -   each of the foldable ends is able to pass from its folded        position at the body of the support to its deployed position,        and vice versa, by means of hinges, or pivots, between the body        of the support and the foldable ends;    -   the hook can be designed to slide with respect to the body of        said support, able to pass from the retracted position in the        body of the support to the deployed position, and vice versa;    -   the device can have means for locking said device in said second        position;    -   in the retracted position of the hook, said hook is internal to        the body of the support, to a major extent, or folded against        the body of the support;    -   in their folded position, the foldable ends are folded against        the body of the support, or internal to the body of the support;    -   the device can consist of at least one sheet of flexible        material, such as cardboard, forming at least the body of the        support, in particular corrugated, or even plastic, after        cutting, folding, grooving or even gluing or welding operations;    -   the device can consist of a sheet of material, in particular        cardboard, in a single piece;    -   the body of the support can consist essentially of a front face        and a rear face adjoining at least at a folding line on which an        opening is provided through which the hook can retract, at least        partially, in the body between said front face and said rear        face of the support, or on the contrary be deployed out of said        body, and in which the body is extended laterally by four flaps,        wherein two flaps, facing each other, locally secured together,        form one of the foldable ends, and two other flaps, facing each        other, locally secured together, form the other foldable end,        cutouts representing said hinges between the body of the support        and the foldable ends, at least one of the front or rear faces        being extended by a base cooperating with said hook and making        it possible to cause the automatic deployment of the foldable        ends by erecting said support;    -   said front face and said rear face and the facing flaps can be        secured by gluing or welding on the top part of said support,        with the exception at least of a middle area of the body for        guiding and retracting said hook, two folding lines longitudinal        to said support constituting hinges allowing the erection, or on        the other hand the flattening of the lower part of said support;    -   the hook can be adjacent to said base; or alternatively    -   the hook can be adjacent to a stop able to cooperate with said        base when said hook is deployed, in order to cause the erection        of said support;    -   the hook is adjacent to the front face of the body of the        support via a connecting area of the sheet, two folding lines        parallel to said connecting area defining said base,    -   the device can be formed at least from the sheet of flexible        material, such as cardboard, forming at least the body of the        support with the connecting area, after cutting, folding or        grooving operations, but without a gluing or welding step,    -   a tab for locking the rear face is inserted in a slot of the        connecting area, said locking tab and said slot cooperating by        sliding between the first flat position and the second position        of the device,    -   the hook can be a plastic piece, in particular moulded by        injection,    -   the device, with the exception of the hook, can consist of a        sheet of flexible material in one piece,    -   the hook and support can be assembled on each other by a        quarter-turn fixing consisting of a slot in the connecting area        and a male part on the hook, insertable in said slot in a first        relative position between the hook and said slot, the locking        being obtained by a rotation of 90° between the hook and the        slot.

The invention also concerns a garment with a neck, folded, with thesleeves folded over the body of the garment, including a deviceaccording to the invention, prearranged at the neck, the hook in theretracted position at the body of the support, the foldable ends intheir so-called folded position at the body of said support.

The invention also concerns a method of packaging a garment with a neck,with sleeves, comprising the following steps:

-   -   a hanging device according to the invention is arranged at the        neck of the garment, in the garment,    -   the garment is folded, at least by folding over the sleeves of        the garment over the body of the garment, said device being in        its flat position, the hook in its retracted position at the        body of the support of said device, the foldable ends folded at        the body of the support,    -   optionally the garment is arranged folded and its device        prearranged at the neck under a plastic film.

The invention will be better understood from a reading of thedescription accompanied by the appended figures, among which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a suspension device according to the inventionin said flat position of said support, the foldable ends being foldedagainst the body of the support, the hook being in the retractedposition,

FIG. 2 is a view of the device of FIG. 1 when the hook is actuated ondeployment,

FIG. 3 is a view of the device as illustrated in FIG. 1, the hook andthe foldable ends being deployed,

FIG. 4 is a view of the pattern obtained from a scored cardboard blank,enabling the device to be produced according to FIG. 1 after gluing andfolding,

FIG. 5 is a view of the section III-III of the device as illustrated inFIG. 3,

FIG. 6 is a view along the section I-I of the device as illustrated inFIG. 1,

FIG. 7 is a view of a T-shirt in which a device as illustrated in FIG. 1is prearranged, the hook in its retracted position, the foldable ends intheir folded position,

FIG. 8 is a view of a device according to the invention according to asecond embodiment, in the retracted position of the hook, the foldableends being folded against the body of the support,

FIG. 9 is a view of the device as illustrated in FIG. 8 when the hook isactuated for deployment,

FIG. 10 is a view of the device as illustrated in FIG. 8, the hook andthe foldable ends being in their deployed position,

FIG. 11 is a view of the section VIII-VIII of the device as illustratedin FIG. 8,

FIG. 12 is a view of the section X-X of the device as illustrated inFIG. 10,

FIG. 13 is view of a device according to the invention according to athird embodiment, the hook in its retracted position, the foldable endsbeing folded against the body of the support,

FIG. 14 is a view of the device as illustrated in FIG. 13 duringdeployment, the hook deployed in rotation, the foldable ends stillfolded against the body of the support,

FIG. 15 is a view of the device as illustrated in FIG. 14, the foldableends and the deployed hook,

FIG. 16 is a view of the pattern obtained from a sheet of scoredmaterial, such as cardboard, enabling the device according to FIG. 13 tobe produced, after folding and gluing operations,

FIG. 17 is a view of the section XIII-XIII as illustrated in FIG. 13,

FIG. 18 is a view of the section XV-XV as illustrated in FIG. 15,

FIG. 19 is a view of a moulded plastic hook of a device according to theinvention according to a fourth embodiment,

FIG. 20 is a view of a pattern obtained from a sheet of scored material,such as cardboard, for producing the support, the foldable ends and thearea for connection with the hook, as illustrated in FIG. 19,

FIG. 21 is a view of the device obtained by assembling the hook asillustrated in FIG. 19 and the sheet of FIG. 20, once shaped inaccordance with the invention according to the fourth embodiment, thedevice being in a retracted position of the hook, the foldable endsbeing folded against the body of the support,

FIG. 22 is a view of the device as illustrated in FIG. 21, the hook andthe foldable ends in their deployed position,

FIG. 23 is a view along the section XXI-XXI as illustrated in FIG. 21,

FIG. 24 is a view in perspective of the hook, as illustrated in FIG. 19,

FIG. 25 is a view in section of a device according to the inventionaccording to a fifth embodiment,

FIG. 26 is a partial front view of the device as illustrated in FIG. 25,

FIG. 27 is a view in perspective of the device as illustrated in FIG.26.

The invention concerns a device 1 for suspending a garment 2 with a neck3, of the coat hanger type. This device comprises a support 5 intendedto be fitted in said garment in order to support it, on either side ofsaid neck 3, and a hook 6 attached to said support.

According to the invention, the support 5 has a body 7 and two foldableends 3, 9, the body terminates laterally in said two foldable ends 8, 9.The device has means for retracting the hook 6 at the body 7 of thesupport 5, in particular against the body 7 of the support 5, or insidethe body 7.

The device also has means for deploying said foldable ends 8, 9, in linewith the body 7, when a traction force is exerted on the hook 6 so thatthe device 1 can pass from a first flat position (P0) as illustrated inparticular in FIG. 1, 6, 8 or 11, 13, 17 to a second position (P10) inwhich the hook 6 and said foldable ends 8, 9 are deployed, asillustrated in particular in FIGS. 3, 5, 10 and 12, 15, 18.

In the retracted position of the hook, the hook can be internal to thesupport, as illustrated in FIG. 6 or 11, or external to the support asillustrated in FIG. 17 folded on said body 7. The traction force exertedon the hook makes it possible to deploy the hook at least partially.

It is thus possible to prearrange a device 1 according to the inventionin the first flat position (P0) of the device in a folded garment, asillustrated in FIG. 7.

Advantageously, the body 7 of the support is inserted through the neck 3of the garment and may optionally serve as a template for width when thegarment is folded.

In said first flat position P0, it can be noted that the spacerequirement of the device corresponds essentially to that of the body 7of the support 5 (without the ends 8, 9).

The foldable ends 8, 9, in their folded position, reduce the spacerequirement in terms of length of the support 5, thus enabling thesleeves of the garment to be folded. The hook 6 in its retractedposition does not project from the body 7, or projects from the body 7only by a minimal part of the hook 6 (see FIG. 7 or 24).

Thus, when the device is prearranged at the neck of the garment, folded,with the sleeves folded over, as illustrated in FIG. 7, it does notincrease the space requirement of the folded garment.

In this position internal to the garment, the retracted hook 6 is closeto the opening of the neck, easily accessible to a human operator, andthe foldable ends 8, 9 in their folded position are respectively closeto the two folded-over sleeves of the garment.

When the folded garment is to be suspended from the rails, it thensuffices to grip the device, internal to the garment, and to deploy thehook 6, which will automatically cause the deployment of the foldableends 8, 9 of the devices and the deployment of the garment.

The device can be placed in the folded garment in the factory, inparticular when the garment is packaged, or in an intermediate step,upstream of the sale.

The foldable ends 8, 9 can thus pass from their folded position P1against the body 7 of the support 5 to their deployed position P2, andvice versa, by means of hinges 300 (i.e. lines 1 to 24) or pivots 301(i.e. FIGS. 25 to 27) between the body 7 of the support 5 and thefoldable ends 8, 9. The hook 6 can be designed to slide with respect tothe body 7 of the support 5 able to pass from the retracted position P3in the body 7 of the support to the deployed position P4, and viceversa.

The device can have means 11, 12, 13, 14; 208, 209 for locking thedevice in said second position P10 and thus the foldable ends 8, 9 intheir deployed position P2.

The device can be produced at less cost, consisting at least of a sheet20; 21, 22; 23 of flexible material such as cardboard, in particularcorrugated, or even plastic, after operations of cutting, folding,grooving or even gluing or welding.

The device can in particular be produced from cardboard, in particularof the corrugated type, from operations such as cutting, folding,grooving and gluing (i.e. FIGS. 1 to 24). Alternatively, the device canbe produced from moulded plastic parts (i.e. FIGS. 25 to 27).

Hereinafter, we describe in detail four embodiments of the invention,wherein the body 7 of the support 5 is formed at least from a sheet offlexible material. The first example embodiment, illustrated in FIGS. 1to 6, consists of a sheet of flexible material, in particular acorrugated cardboard blank, in a single piece. The second embodimentillustrated in FIGS. 8 to 12 is formed from two sheets of flexiblematerial, separate and distinct.

In these two embodiments, the deployment of the hook 6 from position P3to position P4 causes the deployment of the foldable ends.

The third embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 13 to 18 consists of a sheetof cardboard, in particular corrugated, or a sheet of plastics materialin a single piece. In this example, the retraction of the hook isobtained by a combined rotation and sliding movement of the hook withrespect to the body of the support.

The fourth embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 19 to 24 consists of a sheetof flexible material, in a single piece, in particular made fromcardboard, with the exception of the hook 6, which consists of a plasticelement, particularly moulded.

The plastic hook enables the device of the fourth embodiment to slidebetter, in comparison with a cardboard hook, on the rails on which it isintended to be hooked. This fourth embodiment is also distinguished fromthe previous three embodiments in that it can be manufactured withoutany gluing step, particularly advantageously.

We begin first of all by describing the first example embodimentillustrated in FIGS. 1 to 6.

This example is manufactured from a pattern illustrated in FIG. 4, flat,consisting of a sheet of cardboard in a single piece. This sheet isscored in order to produce the support 5 and hook 6, and a connectingarea 30.

More precisely, the hook 6 is obtained from this pattern by folding thepart 65 over the part 66 and fixing them together by means of glue 70.The result is a strong hook 6 formed by a double thickness of cardboard.

The body 7 of the support 5 consists essentially of a front face 51 anda rear face 52 defined during cutting, said faces 51, 52 being adjacentat a folding line 53. A connecting area 30 of the sheet 20 is providedbetween the front face 51 and the hook 6.

On the folding line 53, an opening 54 is provided, allowing passage ofthe hook 6 and in particular retraction thereof in the body 7 of thesupport or on the other hand the deployment of the hook out of the body7. The body 7 of the support is extend laterally by four flaps 81, 82,91, 92, cutouts 83, 93 producing a hinge 300 between each of the flaps81, 82, 91, 92 and the body 7 of the support 5. More precisely, in thisexample, the flaps 81, 82, 91, 92 are adjacent to said front face 51 andrear face 52.

The axes of the flaps/body hinges 7 of the support 5 are substantiallyperpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the support 5.

During manufacture, the top part of the support 5, formed by the toppart of the body 7 and the top part of the flaps 81, 82, 91, 92, facingeach other, are fixed together by means of glue 70. For this purpose,the folding line 53 makes it possible to fold the top part of the frontface 51 over the top part of the rear face 52, which are fixed togetherby gluing.

As illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, the hook is then inserted through anopening below the support 5 between the front face 51 and the rear face52 until said hook 6 emerges through the opening 54 (see FIG. 6).

The middle part of the top part of the support 5 guides the hookslidably during deployment thereof, or, on the other hand, when it isretracted in the support 5.

The sheet 20 also has two folding lines 58, 59 produced by discontinuousscores, in order to constitute a hinge enabling, as illustrated in theFIG. 5, the bottom part of the support 5 to be erected.

In this example, the hook 6 is adjacent to the front face 51 of thesupport by means of said connecting area 30 of the sheet 20. This area30 has in particular several folding lines 60, 61, 62 parallel to thelines 58 and 59, produced by discontinuous scores, constituting so manyhinges that enable the bottom part of the support 5 to be erected whenthe hook 6 is deployed.

More precisely, two folding lines 60, 61 define between them a base 10for separating the bottom part of the front face 51 and the bottom partof the rear face 52 of the support, thus causing the support to beerected.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, this base 10 is in the plane of the front face51 in said first flat position (P0), parallel to the rear face 52 and,according to the example in FIG. 5, makes it possible to separate thebottom parts of the front face 51 and of the rear face 52 as illustratedin FIG. 5. It will be noted that the top part of the front face 51 andthat of the rear face 52 are joined together by gluing over an entirearea, with exception of a middle area of the body of the support 7guiding the hook 6.

It will be noted, as illustrated in FIG. 5, that the folding line 62 ofthe connecting area 30 is, in the second position P10 of the device,juxtaposed with the folding line 59 of the front face 51, making itpossible to fold the device in the direction of the arrow 31 so that thehook 6 is in a plane substantially perpendicular to the plane of thebase 10.

The deployment of the hook 6, according to this example, causes thebottom part of the support 5 to be erected, namely not only the body 7,but also the bottom parts of the foldable ends 8 and 9. During thisdeployment, the two flaps 81, 82 or 91, 92 constituting a foldable end 8or 9 are thus erected at their bottom part, which forces each of theends to deploy in the position P2 by rotation about the hinges 300, by180°.

It will also be noted that tongues 13, 14 are formed by cutting at thefolding line 61. These tongues 13, 14 will, when the hook 6 is fullydeployed, make it possible to lock the device in its position P10 byengaging in the slots 11, 12 provided on the bottom part of the rearface 52, and therefore lock the foldable ends in their deployed positionP2.

The example in FIGS. 8 to 12 is distinguished from the example in FIGS.1 to 6 in that it consists of two distinct cardboard sheets forproducing respectively the support 5 and the hook 6.

This being said, the support 5 has a structure substantially comparableto the previous example in that the body of the support 7 consists of afront face 56 and a rear face 57 secured together in particular bygluing at their top part, the body 7 being extended by four lateralflaps, fixed together in pairs and forming, in accordance with theprevious example, the two foldable ends.

They also have two folding lines 58, 59 enabling the bottom part of thesupport 5 and in particular the body 7 and foldable ends 8, 9 to beformed in order to cause automatic deployment thereof. They differhowever from the previous example by the form of the base 10, whichadjoins the front face 56 and the rear face 57, produced by threefolding lines 71, 72, 73 consisting in particular of discontinuousscores, parallel to the folding lines 58, 59 and constituting hinges.The folding line 71 separates the front face 56 and the base 10. Thefolding line 72 separates the rear face 57 and the base 10. The foldingline 73 is intermediate to the aforementioned two lines 71, 72.

In the first flat position P0 of the support, the base is folded at itsintermediate folding line 73, into two parts that respectively extendthe front face 58 and the rear face 59 of the support. When the hook 6is deployed, a stop 63 adjoining the hook engages with the base 10 inorder to cause said base 10 to turn over, about the folding line 73,between the faces 58 and 59, and thus causes the bottom part of thesupport 5 to be erected. In doing this the ends 8 and 9 are alsoerected, thus causing automatic deployment thereof.

In this example, the hook 6 adjoins a stop 63 via a connecting area thatprojects level with openings at the bottom part of the support 5. Thehook 6 makes it possible to be deployed from the top part of the support5 through an opening 54.

The example in FIGS. 13 to 18 is manufactured from a pattern illustratedin FIG. 16, flat, consisting of a flat cardboard sheet, optionallycorrugated, or plastics material in a single piece. This sheet is scoredin order to produce the support 5 and the hook 6, as well as aconnecting area 30.

More precisely, the hook 6 is obtained from this pattern by folding thepart 65 over the part 66 and joining them together by means of glue 70.The result is a strong hook 6 formed by a double thickness of flatcardboard, corrugated, or plastics material.

The body 7 of the support 5 consists essentially of a front face 51 anda rear face 52 defined at the time of cutting, said faces 51, 52 beingadjacent at a folding line 53. A connection 30 is provided between thefront face 51 and the hook 6.

On the folding line 53 an opening 54 is provided, enabling the hook 6 topass and in particular allowing partial retraction thereof in the body 7of the support or on the other hand the deployment of the hook 6 out ofthis body 7. Total retraction of the hook is obtained by means of afolding line 100 making it possible, by a rotation of 180°, to fold thehook against the external wall of the rear face 52. The body 7 of thesupport is extended laterally by four flaps 81, 84, 91, 94, cutouts 83,93 producing a hinge 300 between each of the flaps 81, 84, 91, 94 andthe body 7 of the support 5. Two 81, 91 of the flaps adjoin the frontface 51, the other two flaps 84, 94 adjoin said connecting area 30 thatis developed subsequently.

The axes of the hinges 300 are roughly perpendicular to the longitudinalaxis of the support 5.

During manufacture, gluing tabs 175, 176, adjoining the front face 51,are fixed to the rear face 52 by glue 70. For this purpose, the foldinglines 171, 172 make it possible to fold down the gluing tabs 175, 176against the front face 51 before folding down the rear face 52, which isfixed by gluing to the gluing tabs 175, 176.

As illustrated in FIGS. 17 and 18, the hook is inserted through anopening below the support 5 between the front face 51 and the rear face52 until said hook 6 emerges through the opening 54 (see FIG. 18).

The middle part of the top part of the support 5 guides the hook 6slidably during deployment thereof, or, on the other hand, when it ispartially retracted in the support 5.

In this example the hook 6 adjoins the front face 51 of the support bymeans of said connecting area 30 of the sheet 20. This area 30 has inparticular several fold lines 60, 61, 62, two of which 60, 61 definebetween them a base 10 for separating the bottom part of the front face51 and the bottom part of the support 52, thus causing the support to bemade up. It will be noted that the flaps 84, 94 adjoin this connectingarea 30.

As illustrated in FIG. 17, this base 10 is in the plane of the frontface 51 in said flat position (P0), parallel to the rear face 52 and,according to the example in FIG. 18, separates the bottom part of thefront face 51 and of the rear face 52 as illustrated in FIG. 18. It willbe noted that the top part of the front face 51 and that of the rearface 52 are fixed together by means of said gluing tabs 175, 176, thefolding lines 171, 172 of which constitute hinges enabling the supportto be made up.

The partial deployment of the hook 6, in sliding, cause according tothis example, the erection of the bottom part of the support 5, namelynot only the body 7, but also the bottom parts of the foldable ends 8and 9. During this deployment, the two flaps 81, 84 or 91, 94constituting a foldable end 8 or 9 are thus erected at their bottompart, which forces each of the ends to deploy in the position P2 byrotation of said foldable ends 8, 9 about hinges 300, by 180°. It willbe noted in this example that two of flaps 81, 91 adjoin the front face51, the other two flaps 91, 94 adjoining said connecting area 30.

Finally, the example in FIGS. 19 to 24 is made from a plastic hook 6,moulded by injection, illustrated in FIG. 19, and from a patternillustrated in FIG. 20, flat, consisting of a flat cardboard sheet 23,optionally corrugated.

By virtue of its moulded plastic hook, this device slides better overthe hanging rails in shops, in comparison with a hook produced fromcardboard. With regard to its manufacture, this device is distinguishedfrom the previous examples in that it can be assembled without glue.

As illustrated in FIG. 20, the body 7 of the support 5 consistsessentially of a front face 51 and a rear face 52 both defined duringcutting, said front face and rear face adjoining each other at a foldingline 53. A connecting area 30 of the body, between the front face 51 andthe rear face 52 which will be developed below.

On the folding line 53 an opening 54 is provided, which allows passageof the hook 6, and more particularly total retraction thereof in thebody 7 (FIGS. 21 and 23), or on the other hand deployment of the hook 6out of this body 7 (FIG. 22). Total retraction of the hook 6, betweenthe faces 51 and 52, is here possible by virtue of two folding lines201, 202, provided at said connecting area 30, said folding lines 201,202 enabling said connecting area 30 to fold in a concertina, asillustrated in FIG. 23, in order to guarantee the travel necessary forretraction of the hook 6.

The body 7 of the support 5 is extended laterally by four flaps 81, 84,91, 94, cutouts 83, 93 producing a hinge 300 between each of the flaps81, 84, 91, 94 and the body 7 of the support 5. Two 81, 91 of the flapsadjoin the front face 51, the other two flaps 91, 94 adjoining theconnecting area 30.

During manufacture, the hook 6 is first of all fixed to the connectingarea 30 of the device. For this purpose, the hook 6 and the connectingarea 30 can be connected to each other by a quarter-turn fixing,consisting of a slot 203 on the connecting area 30 and a male part 204on the hook.

The male part 204 can be inserted in the slot 203 in a first relativeposition between the hook 6 and the slot 203, the locking of the twoparts 6, 30 being obtained by a rotation of 90° between the hook 6 andsaid connecting area 30. In this second position, the male part 204projects on the other side of the sheet 23 and on an axis perpendicularto the axis of the slot 203.

The male part 204 consists essentially of a flat part with a lengthcorresponding to the length of the slot 203 (slightly less), appreciablygreater than the width of the slot in order to obtain locking, and apart 212 with a dimension less than the slot thickness, intended to passthrough the slot in the locking position. This male part 204 adjoins apart 211 with a dimension greater than the slot 203, which constitutes astop for pushing the connecting area 30 when the hook 6 is retracted inthe body 7 of the support 5.

Once in position locked in the slot 203, two parts 67, 68 of theconnecting area 30 of the sheet 23 can be folded over against each otheralong the folding line 213, sandwiching the male part 204 of the hook 6.

As illustrated in FIG. 23, the hook 6 is then inserted through anopening below the support 5 between the front face 51 and the rear face52 of the support until the hook 6 re-emerges, at least slightly,through the opening 54 (see FIG. 23).

Finally, in order to lock the assembly of the device, a locking tab 205cut in said rear face 52 is inserted in a slot 207 provided on saidconnecting area 30. The tab 205 is provided with two teeth 206 that willengage with the edges of the slot 207 in order to prevent disassemblythereof. It will be noted however that the tab 205 and the slot 207cooperate slidingly in order to enable the device to pass from the firstflat position P0, as illustrated in FIG. 21, to its second position P10as illustrated in FIG. 22.

To this end, the length of the tab 205 is greater than the width of abase 10 defined between the two lines 60, 61 on the sheet 23 in order tobe able to slide through said slot 207 between the two positions P0, P10of the device.

In this example, the hook 6 adjoins said front face 51 via theconnecting area 30 of the sheet 23. This area 30 has several foldinglines 60, 61, 201, 202, 213, two of which, 60, 61, define between themsaid base 10 that will make it possible to separate the bottom part ofthe front face 51 from the bottom part of the connecting area 30, andtherefore the front face 51 from the rear face 52, and thus enable thesupport 5 to be erected.

As illustrated in FIG. 23, this base 10 is roughly in the plane of thefront face 51 in said flat position P0 and, just like the previousexamples, will make it possible to separate the front face 51 and therear face 52 at their bottom part. During this erection, the parts 51and 52 pivot at the folding line 53.

The deployment of the hook 6 from the position illustrated in FIG. 23makes it possible first of all to eliminate the concertina by pivotingat the folding lines 201, 202 and then to force the base 10 to move theconnecting area 30 away from the front face 51 (and therefore the frontface 51 from the rear face 52). During this deployment, the two flaps81, 84 or 91, 94 constituting a foldable end 8 or 9 are thus erected,which forces each of the ends to deploy in the position P2, by rotationof said ends 8, 9 about hinges 300, by 180°.

A tongue 208, on the connecting area 30, will make it possible to lockthe device in the position P10 by cooperating in locking with the bottomedge 209 of the opening 204. Optionally, the support 5 may have recesses216 in particular at the foldable ends, at their top part, in order toattach the straps of garments, such as lingerie in particular. Theplastic hook 6 illustrated in FIG. 23 may optionally have a stud 218projecting from the hook that will make it possible to clip any pricelabels on the hook.

These four embodiments can be manufactured easily and at less costmainly according to the methods used in the cardboard box manufacturefield.

The fourth embodiment is particularly advantageous in that the assemblyof the device can be carried out without glue.

The invention also concerns a garment 2 with a neck, the garment folded,with the sleeves folded over the body of the garment, and including adevice 1 prearranged at the neck 3, the hook 6 in the retractedposition, the foldable ends 8, 9 in their folded position at the body 7of the support 5, in particular against the body of the support.

We now describe in detail a fifth embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 25 to27.

The body 7 of the support 5 consists of two half-shells 407, 417,clipped on each other. The body 7 does not exceed a few millimetres inthickness in order to be able to be prearranged discretely in a foldedgarment in accordance with the invention. It is for example less than 5mm thick, or even less than 4 mm.

The internal volume of the body 7 receives between the two half-shells407, 417 firstly, at the middle part of the body, a hook 6, provided soas to slide, and secondly, at the ends of the body 7, two foldable ends8, 9 which in the figures are illustrated in their folded position P1inside the body 7.

These foldable ends 8, 9 are articulated on rotation axis pivots 301,substantially perpendicular to the overall plane of said device 1.

The hook 6 and the foldable ends 8, 9 are connected by means of aflexible link 408, 409.

All the parts of this device, illustrated in FIGS. 25 to 27, can bemanufactured from moulded plastic parts.

The hook 6, the foldable ends 8, 9 and said flexible connections 408,409 can constitute a single-piece element obtained during the samemoulding operation.

In accordance with the invention, according to one embodiment, whentraction is exerted on the hook, the ends pivot about pivots 301 and aredeployed laterally in line with the body 7.

Naturally other embodiments could have been envisaged by persons skilledin the art without for all that departing from the scope of theinvention defined by the following claims.

1. Device (1) for hanging a garment (2) with a neck (3), of the coat hanger type, comprising a support (5) intended to be fitted in said garment in order to support it, on either side of said neck (3), and a hook (6) integral with said support (5), characterised in that said support (5) has a body (7) and two foldable ends (8,9), said body (7) terminating in said two foldable ends (8, 9), said device (1) having means for retracting the hook (6) at the body (7) of the support (5), as well as means for deploying said foldable ends (8, 9) in line with the body (7), when a traction force is exerted on the hook, so that said device (1) can pass from a first position flat (P0), with the least space requirement, in which said foldable ends (8, 9) are in their position folded at the body (7) of the support (5) and said hook (6) is in its retracted position, intended to prearrange, at the neck, the device in the garment, folded, with sleeves folded over, to a second position (P10), in which the hook (6) and the said foldable ends (8, 9) are deployed, making it possible to suspend the garment, when a traction force is exerted on the hook of said device prearranged in the garment.
 2. Device according to claim 1, in which each of the foldable ends (8, 9) is able to pass from their folded position (P1) at the body (7) of the support (5) to their deployed position (P2), and vice versa, in rotation by means of hinges (300) or pivots (301), between the body (7) of the support and the foldable ends (8, 9).
 3. Device according to claim 1, in which the hook (6) is designed to slide with respect to the body (7) of said support (5), able to pass from the retracted position (P3) at the body (7) of the support (5) to the deployed position (P4), and vice versa.
 4. Device according to claim 1, having means (11, 12, 13, 14; 208, 209) for locking said device in said second position (P10).
 5. Device according to claim 1, in which, in the retracted position of the hook (6), said hook (6) is internal to the body (7) of the support (5), to a major extent, or folded against the body (7) of the support (5).
 6. Device according to claim 1, in which, in their folded position, the foldable ends (8, 9) are folded against the body of the support (5), or internal to the body (7) of the support (5).
 7. Device according to claim 2, formed by at least one sheet (20; 21, 22; 23) of flexible material, forming at least the body (7) of the support (5), such as cardboard, or even plastic, after operations of cutting, folding, grooving, or even gluing or welding.
 8. Device according to claim 7, consisting of a sheet (20) of flexible material in a single piece.
 9. Device according to claim 7, in which the body (7) of the support (5) consists essentially of a front face (51; 56) and a rear face (52; 57) adjoining at least at a folding line (53; 55) on which an opening (54) is provided through which the hook (6) can retract, at least partially, in the body (7) between said front face (51) and said rear face (52) of the support (5), or on the contrary be deployed out of said body (7), and in which said body (7) is extended laterally by four flaps (81, 82, 84, 91, 92, 94), wherein two flaps (81, 82, 84), facing each other, locally secured together, form one (8) of the foldable ends, and two other flaps (91, 92, 94), facing each other, locally secured together, form the other foldable end (9), cutouts (91, 92, 94) representing said hinges (300) between the body (7) of the support (5) and the foldable ends (8, 9), at least one of the front or rear faces (51) being extended by a base (10) cooperating with said hook (6) and making it possible to cause the automatic deployment of the foldable ends (8, 9) by erecting said support (5).
 10. Device according to claim 9, in which the hook (6) adjoins the front face (51) of the body of the support (5) via a connecting area (30) of the sheet (20; 23), two parallel folding lines (60, 61) of said connecting area (30) defining said base (10).
 11. Device according to claim 10, in which the device is formed at least from said sheet (23) of flexible material, such as in particular cardboard, forming at least the body of the support (5) with the connecting area (30) after cutting and folding/grooving operations, but without a gluing or welding step.
 12. Device according to claim 10, in which a locking tab (205) on the rear face (52) is inserted in a slot (207) in the connecting area (30), said locking tab (205) and said slot (207) cooperate slidably between the first flat position (P0) and said second position (P10) of the device.
 13. Device according to claim 10, in which the hook (6) is a moulded plastic part.
 14. Device according to claim 12, which the hook (6) and the connecting area (30) can be assembled by a quarter-turn fixing consisting of a slot (203) in the sheet (23) and a male part (204) of the hook (6), insertable in a first relative position between the hook (6) and the slot (203) in said slot (203), the locking being obtained by a rotation of 90° between the hook (6) and the slot (203).
 15. Device according to claim 9, in which the hook is adjacent to a stop (63) able to cooperate with said base (10) when said hook (6) is deployed, in order to cause the erection of said support (5).
 16. Garment (2) with a neck (3), folded, with sleeves folded over the body of the garment, including a device (1) according to claim 1, prearranged at the neck (3), the hook (6) in the retracted position, the foldable ends (8, 9) in their said folded position at the body (7) of said support (5).
 17. Method of packaging a garment (2) with a neck (3), with sleeves, comprising the following steps: a suspension device (1) according to claim 1 is arranged at the neck (3) of the garment (2), in the garment, the garment is folded at least by folding over the sleeves of the garment, on the body of the garment, said device being in its flat position, the hook (6) in its retracted position at the body (7) of the support (5) of the device (1), the foldable ends folded at said body (7) of said support (5), optionally, the folded garment (2) and its device (1) prearranged at the neck are arranged under plastic film.
 18. Device according to claim 2, in which the hook (6) is designed to slide with respect to the body (7) of said support (5), able to pass from the retracted position (P3) at the body (7) of the support (5) to the deployed position (P4), and vice versa.
 19. Device according to claim 1, formed by at least one sheet (20; 21, 22; 23) of flexible material, forming at least the body (7) of the support (5), such as cardboard, or even plastic, after operations of cutting, folding, grooving, or even gluing or welding.
 20. Device according to claim 11, in which a locking tab (205) on the rear face (52) is inserted in a slot (207) in the connecting area (30), said locking tab (205) and said slot (207) cooperate slidably between the first flat position (P0) and said second position (P10) of the device. 